1. Taylor Martinez has a new throwing motion and is ready to step up, and stuff.
2. NU has its deepest roster of offensive linemen since Bo Pinelli came to Lincoln -- and perhaps its most talented.
3. Nebraska has some new, BIG, I-backs. This will help them gain yards in the rugged Big Ten, while losing any chance to compete on a national level. We've always said that a subpar big back is better than having LaMichael James (skip to the 1:30 mark of this video for some gratuitous Gus Johnson cameos). PYB is just happy that we've finally landed the next Cody Glenn and Quentin Castille.
4. The backup quarterbacks will see more snaps in 2012. They didn't get any in 2011, because Martinez was in his first year in a new offense. His mediocre present was more important than the program's long-term future.
5. The Big Red still has enough juice to outduel Arkansas and Missouri for an offensive lineman who plays lacrosse.
6. Signing a three-star lineman warrants a ticker-tape parade these days.
7. Justin Blatchford is really good at getting lined up in the right spot. The reporter who did the feature story on him had to go back three full seasons to find a highlight play worth mentioning.
8. The NU defensive line is healthy and has a new coach. Notice no mention has been made about the unit actually making a play this season.
Moving on....
--PYB is shocked that Aleks Maric was not able to help Australia overcome Team USA yesterday in Olympic basketball action. When we flipped it on, the USA was leading 80-68. A few minutes later, the Americans were up 30 points and rolled to a 119-86 win. The decisive run was impressive, even for this band of ingrates.
Kobe Bryant was hot and nailing fast-break jumpers from downtown. James Harden was running the break and dunking. Carmelo Anthony was trying to be Kobe and was grinding the offense to a halt. It was fun to watch. It was also sad to think about the fact that only highlights NU basketball has these days in when players from five years ago chip in two points a game in the Olympics -- for Nigeria and Australia.
--As fun as that was, watching Usain Bolt preen and prance before his 200m prelim race was disgusting. Bolt got a Michael-Buffer-type, personalized introduction before the race. Is this the Olympics or the latest rigged fight courtesy of Don King? What happened to 'amateurism' and the spirit of competition over corporate greed? Intros should go as follows: "Lane 5, Usain Bolt, Jamaica."
--PYB has been burned for the umpteenth Olympiad in a row. Every other night, we think it'd be a nice night to catch some Olympic action only to forget the coverage on NBC's side networks shuts down at 7pm for 'alternate programming' and forces us to watch the same events on the main network over and over and over. If you don't like the contrived beach volleyball format, or synchronized diving, or watching the same exact gymnastics events done for the third time by the same competitors----you are fucked.
--Finally, Nebraska basketball added a regular-season tournament to its schedule for the first time in several years (too lazy to look it up). The Joe Cipriano Nebraska Classic will honor the late, former NU coach. The schedule will take place across four sites and is pretty much unintelligible. We stared at the slate for 10 minutes yesterday and are still not sure how the format works.
We like the idea, but as usual with the NU AD, the execution is uninspired. The format needs to be as follows. Four teams. Play it at the NU Coliseum. Serve beer (pipe dream). Pack the house. This has been our vision for years, but know that planners would only point out obstacles instead of just making a great event.
All for now.....PYB
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